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Great read but not as good as her adult titles

by Christa @ More Than Just Magic

12 months ago

There's a lot of great things about this book. It's set in Italy during the Inquisition. It doesn't hit you over the head with yet another teen romance. There's a secret society. Nuns sleepwalking and having visions. The list go on and on. True to form, Gregory creates some amazing and likeable characters. I always feel like I get to know her characters so well. I especially loved Isolde. She's strong, brave and intelligent. She gets into some unfortunate situations but she never seems to lose herself because of them. Same goes for Ishraq. It was nice to have some strong female characters in a historical fiction novel. But my favourite character, by far, was Freize. He not only provides some much needed comic relief but he is often the voice of reason and intelligence. Changeling has a lot of great elements that Philippa Gregory is famous for, but one thing I thought it was missing was the detail. That's not to say the Italian world of 1453 doesn't come alive on the page. Because it does. But it's missing the careful detail and thought that I'm used to seeing in her work. This book is only 272 pages but there are two complete stories held within it - the story of the nuns and the story of the werewolves. I think that both of these stories could have easily been their own novel but they were both shoved together in one. At the very least it could have used more than 272 pages - everything just felt too rushed. Changeling is a fun and quick read. I completely lost track of time while I was reading it and the pages just seemed to turn themselves. I just wish there are been MORE of it. I can't wait to how the follow up books turn out. Final recommendation: YA historical fiction and paranormal fans are sure to fall in love with the start of this new series, but fans of Philippa Gregory's adult titles may be a little disappointed with this new YA project. This and other reviews at Hooked on Books (http://christashookedonbooks.blogspot.com)